Chess playing aid

ABSTRACT

THIS INVENTION CONSISTS OF A CHESS BOARD OF PREDETERMINED THICKNESS THAT IS MADE OF TWO PIECES OF MATERIAL OF EQUAL SIZE THAT ARE HINGED TOGETHER TO FORM A SINGLE SURFACE ON WHICH THE GAME OF CHESS IS PLAYED. THE CHESS BOARD IS PROVIDED WITH TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED CHIP HOLDERS THAT ARE INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH THE ENDS OF THE BOARD AND PROJECT OUTWARD FROM THE ENDS. A PLURALITY OF CHIPS, EACH CHIP HAVING THE BASIC CONFIGURATION OF A DISK, ARE PLACED IN THE CHIP HOLDER WHEN NOT IN ACTUAL USE. INDICIA ARE LOCATED ON EACH SIDE OF THE CHIPS FOR THE PLAYING OF THE CHESS GAME, AS NOTED LATER ON IN THIS SPECIFICATION.

E. J. PETTY cxmss PLAYING AID Filed May 29, 1969 Oct. .19, 1971 United States Patent US. or. 35--8 R 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention consists of a chess board of predetermined thickness that is made of two pieces of material of equal size that are hinged together to form a single surface on which the game of chess is played. The chess board is provided with two diametrically opposed chip holders that are integrally formed with the ends of the board and project outward from the ends. A plurality of chips, each chip having the basic configuration of a disk, are placed in the chip holder when not in actual use. Indicia are located on each side of the chips for the playing of the chess game, as noted later on in this specification.

This invention relates to the game of chess, and more particularly, to a device that is an aid in playing the game, as will hereinafter be described.

Chess is one of mans oldest games. It is said to have originated in India from which it spread to Persia and Arabia and on into western Europe in the seventh century AD. Chess is a game for two that is played upon a checkerboard with a plurality of moving pieces. Chess is sometimes called the royal game from its pre-eminence among contests of intellectual skill. There are many variations of the game of chess, all of which are basically played in the same way.

The main object of this invention is to provide a chess playing aid in the form of a plurality of chips for each player, on the underside of each chip of which is indicated the play to be made. The chips are kept in a holder on each side of the chess board from which they are removed one by one as the plays are made and then replaced in a receptacle in the same holder.

Another object of this invention is to provide a chess playing aid that will permit the most inexperienced person in the art of chess to enjoy this delightful game with a minimum amount of instruction which can be obtained from printed matter accompanying this novel chess playing aid.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a chess playing aid that can be packaged for sale at a'price nearly anyone can afford. 1

Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent as the description of the invention is read along with an examination of the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of this invention without the chips in place.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of a stack of the chips that are a part of the chess playing aid.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of another stack of chips which are a part of this chess playing aid.

FIG. 4 is a top view of one of the chips shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a top view of one of the chips shown in FIG. 3.

' 3,613,261 Patented Oct. 19, 1971 FIG. 6 is a bottom view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of'FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a top view of that portion of this invention that is indicated by the vertically disposed arrowed line and numeral 8 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a front view of FIG. 8.

Looking now at the drawing, it will be seen that this invention consists of a typical chess board 15 that is made in two pieces that are hinged together by hinges which are naturally hidden when the board is opened'up for play, as one can readily see by examination of FIG. 1 of the drawing. A chip container 16 is integrally formed with the center portion of the vertically disposed front surface 17 of each half of the aforesaid chess board 15. Each chip holder 16 contains a pair of vertically disposed and spaced cylindrical openings 18 in which is placed the stacks of chips 19 and 20. The chips 21 and 22 consist of a flat disk having a rounded lug 23. The chips 21 in stack 19 are all white, while the chips 22 in stack 20 are of any desired color. Each chip, be it white or colored, is provided with a code number that is indicated by the reference number 24 on the front thereof. The code number will indicate the type of game that is to be played, that is, if the game is an instructional one or a previously played professional game. The number of the play is indicated by the reference number 25 and is located on the face of each of the chips, while abbreviated instructions are indicated by letters and numerals on the back of each chip 21 and 22. For example, the notation PK4 will indicate that white advances his kings pawn two squares on the chess board 15. This just described play is fully illustrated on the back of one of the chips in FIG. 6 of the drawing, while another play is indicated by the same method on the chip shown in FIG. 7 of the drawing.

It is now obviously clear that when all of the chips 21 that go to make up the stack of chips 19, and all of the chips 22 that go to make up the stack of chips 20, are stacked face up, that each player will not know just what move he or she is to make until they remove the chip from its aforesaid container 16 and turn it over and read its instructions. The chips are, as one can see from examining FIG. 9 of the drawing, at first all kept in the left-hand one of the vertical cylindrical openings 18. As each chip is used, it is placed in the right-hand vertical cylindrical opening as is indicated by the instructions that are located between the two aforesaid vertically disposed openings in the aforesaid containers of the chess board 15. It is obvious that one player will use the white chips 21 in stack 19 while the other player will use the colored chips 22 in stack 20.

It is now clear that I have provided a new and novel chess playing aid that has the advantage of creating a sort of suspense for the chess players since they will not know what move to make until each chip is turned over; furthermore, they will have the fun of trying to figure out why each play was made, and the strategy of the moves. Also, the playing is automatic as each player takes his or her turn as determined by the disk, as has now been described in detail. The aid also permits one to play a solitary game of chess should he or she so desire.

Having now described this novel invention of mine, what I now claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A chess playing aid comprising: a chess board of predetermined thickness, a chip holder secured to the surface of one end of the chess board, a like chip holder secured to the opposite end of said chess board, each said chip holder being provided with two spaced apart and parallel vertically disposed cylindrical openings, and a stack of chips for each of said holders, each stack being sequentially numbered on one face according to a sequence of plays and having corresponding move-by-rnove instructions on the opposite face, each stack adapted to be removably located in sequential order in one of said cylindrical openings of its associated holder with said numbered faces uppermost and to be taken out one at a time and deposited in said other cylindrical opening with said opposite faces uppermost thereby revealing the instructions in sequential order.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein all of the said chips are flat disks of the same size and each chip has an integrally formed lug extending outward from the periphery of the chip, the said lug having a rounded outer end.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein said cylindrical openings are slightly larger than the said chips and each cylindrical Opening is configurated to permit the lug of each chip which is placed therein to extend slightly beyond the side of the said chip holder.

References Cited WILLIAM H. GRlEB, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 273136 K 

